13 February 2007

One Giant Leap For Judahkind

The other night I was on the phone with my mom. She asked if Judah was now crawling with his belly off of the floor consistently. "100% of the time," I replied.

That is now a lie.

Judah is quickly on his way to being a walker! That's right! He's not quite 11 months old, but over the past week, he has been taking steps! It started with his pulling himself up on furniture and then letting go--he'd stand there for a few seconds, then topple over. Most of the time he did this on the couch, so it was a soft landing that brought him great joy.

Next, knowing his legs were strong enough to hold him up, I began initiating "come to Mama" walking sessions where, at any one time, he'd take 4-15 unassisted steps before diving into my arms. [A cute side note: Charis, not wanting to be left out of the action, declared, "I walk, too!" and proceeded to toddle 4 or 5 steps before falling into my arms laughing.] I've showed Abe, so he can confirm. The most effective method I've found for encouraging his steps is walking behind him, but holding my hands out in front of him--it's the carrot-on-a-stick method. Using this procedure, he has taken as many as 20 unassisted steps.

But then, this morning, he was holding on to the coffee table, he let go, and he actually walked 5 steps to the nearest footstool--unassisted and, most phenomenally, self-initiated! Pretty cool!

Another cute Charis story, just so this post isn't Judah-heavy: This morning, Charis was eating her breakfast in the booster seat. I had just gotten Judah up (who has been sick), and he was cuddling with me on the couch. Charis was ready to get out, so she requested that I set brother down and help her. "Well, let's give him just a minute. He just woke up and he's getting his mommy fix."
"Oh, no!" Charis said. "Mommy's broken?"

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